IN and OUT

January 29th, 2008 Chulucanas, Peru

In and Out

Tonight was the championship game. We came into the game 2-0 while our opponent was 1-1. If we win we would be the champions but should we lose another game would have to be played. We were up 10 points with 4 minutes remaining. This was actually quite surprising because Juan Luis, our other star player, and I were having off nights to say the least. The only reason we were up was because Manolo, a solid role player, was shooting the lights out from behind the 3pt line.

Unfortunately, our lead dwindled over the remaining minutes and we found ourselves down 2 points with 14 seconds to play. We called timeout and I proceeded to draw up a play. Mario was to pass it in to me at the top of the key. I would drive hard to hole and then kick it out to Manolo in the left corner, his sweet spot. Since he was hot from the arc, they would surely come running out at him. All he had to do was simply fake the shot and then would have a clear path to the basket. When they collapse on him, he would dish it to Juan Luis who would be cutting to the basket for an easy uncontested layup and we would take them in overtime.

Everything went as planned. The play was executed perfectly. Except when Juan Luis went to catch the ball he fumbled it and it rolled off his knee. With 6 seconds left, it lands in the hands of Manolo who passes out of a double team to Ito. Ito passes it to me where I am standing in my second favorite spot behind the 3pt line.

With 2 seconds left I set up to shoot. They say we only use 10% of our brain. But I think while the adrenaline courses through our veins that number rises substantially. In the mere milliseconds before I shoot, several thoughts race through my brain. The first is this situation is eerily similar to a game last year. Last year, I drilled the shot in the championship and wound up having people buy me beers all night. The second was an analysis of my confidence. Although I was having problems with my runner and short game in general, my outside game had been rather steady. I had already hit one 3-pointer and 2 other deep shots.

I jumped to shoot. The release is good. Its on target and appears good. You can hear people in the crowd gasp. It settles inside the rim, rattles around and pops out as time expires. Everyone exhales. The championship game would be replayed. Both teams are now 2-1.